Learning git

I’m working on some startup-oriented content with teammates around the country. It’s mostly text, not code, but there are a healthy amount of code snippets mixed in.

For any other project like this I’ve worked on at Microsoft, we have collaborated using SharePoint or (gasp!) email. But the guys leading this project are very comfortable with git, and since this content is aimed at developers who would likely use git, it makes sense to collaborate on github.

Instead of working directly in PowerPoint, we’re building the content primarily in readme.md files, which are text files with simple markup that make them look good on github.

Even though I was familiar with git, I had never actually used it on a real project (I had never gone past hello world). It took a couple of hours, but I’m starting to get it – I’m beginning to understand why so many developers (especially startup developers) are so fond of it. Once you get going, it’s pretty darn easy and efficient to collaborate with people around the world.

It’s going to be interesting to see if we meet the tone of our intended audience with this content, and I’m curious to see how much the tools we use affect that. Regardless, it’s always fun to learn and actually use a new tool.